Manufacture of lap-welded tubing.



P. PATTERSON, DEGD.

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MANUFACTURE OF LAP WELDED TUBING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1911.

Pamllted 001 27, 1914.

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- MANUFACTURE OF LAP WELDED TUBING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1911.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

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WITNESSES. j W Walk NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PETER PATTERSON, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA; SAFE DEPOSIT & TRUST 00. OF

PGH. EXECUTOR OF SAID PATTERSON, DECEASED.

MANUFACTURE OF LAP-WELDED TUBING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known'that I, PETER Pa'rrnnson, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Lap-'Welded Tubing; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to furnaces for the manufacture of lap weld tubing, its object being to increase the production of the welding furnace by an improved means for charging the tubular skelp into the furnace without interfering with the operations necessary in the furnace preparatory to the' welding operation.

In the usual method of operating lap weld furnaces of the class to which my invention belongs there are three operations necessary at the charging 0r pit end of the furnace be-- fore the tubing is welded. The first operation is to push the skelp onto the furnace hearth, which is done by workmen known as pitmen or chargers. The second is to move the skelp into the exact position to be heated. This is done by a workman known as a turner-down. The third operation is to push the skelp out of the furnace into the rolls by the welder assisted by a machine known as a pusher. These three operations must all be performed separately and in a small area, called the pit, in front of the furnace and with the result that in making small pipe it is impossible to charge as many skelp into the furnace as it is capable of heating. Hence the production of the furnace is limited to the manipulation of the skelp in charging and in heatin In my improved furnace the charging o the skelp is removed from the pit of the furnace and instead is charged in at the side, removing the chargers from the pit and enabling the turner-down and the welder to work more easily and handle more skelp in the furnace and thereby increase the production.

It consists, generally stated, in a tube welding furnace having a shelf at the side of and at a higher level than the hearth, a

feeding ort in the front wall in line with the shel and ports in the side wall in line with the shelf so that the pipe may be pushed longitudinally onto such shelf and then pushed laterally onto the hearth It also includes pushing mechanism operating in connection with said pushing openings in the side walls.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same and Fig. 4 is a cross section of another form of apparatus embodying the invention.

The furnace 2 embodying the invention has the hearth 3 and at the sides thereof on a higher level the shelves 4, 5. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 3 these shelves are arranged between the hearth and the regenerator ports 6, 7. The furnace is shown with the deliveryports 8, 9 and behind the same the welding rolls 10, 11. In the front wall of the furnace is the central operating port 12, and at the sides thereof and on a higher level, that is, on the level of the shelves 4, 5 are the feeding ports 13, 14. The pit 15 is located as usual at the front end of the furnace opposite the central port through which the worlnnen operate to locate the skelp on the hearth and through which the pusher enters to push the skelp into the welding rolls, the furnace having the two welding grooves 16 and 17 in line with the discharge ports 8 and 9, and if a mechanical discharge pusher is employed the same being located in line with the central port 12 as at 18, the pusher in such case traveling on the track 19.

In line with the ports 13 and 14 and on a proper level for feeding the metal are the charging troughs 20 and 21 and suitable pushers 22 and 23 are arranged to travel along said troughs for example on the tracks 24 and 25. The skelp may be fed tothe charging troughs either laterally from the racks 26 and 27 or they may be fed thereto longitudinally such as by conveyors 28 and 29 in line with the troughs, this depending on the location of the furnace, or both may be employed a found desirable. In the side walls '30, 31 of the furnace are the ports or openings 32 at about the level of the shelves 4 and 5 and extending through such side ports are the side pushers 33 which may be operated in any suitable way, for example by the auxiliary engines 34 each connected to a lever 35 mounted on the shaft 36 which in turn is connected by the levers 37 and links 38 to the said pushers. By means of this mechanism the said pushers can be forced through the side walls'and over the shelves to automatically push or roll the skelp down onto the hearth 3; i

In the use of the furnace above described the skelp are fed into the charging troughs and by means of the pushers 22 and 23 are pushed longitudinally through the ports 13 and 14 into the furnace in line with and resting upon the shelves 4 and 5. Two skelp can be fed in this way'simultaneously if desired. Immediately after they are thus charged the side pushers 32 are forced laterally through the sides of the furnace and engage the skelp on the shelves and push them onto the hearth of the furnace. The workman known as the turner-down then adjusts the skelp on the furnace hearth and as they heat feeds them over laterally into the welding grooves 16 or 17 on the hearth and when the skelp are raised to proper welding heat the welder, operating through the operating port 12, pushes the skelp through the ports 8 or 9 in therear wall and feeds them into the welding rolls, being aided in so doing by'the mechanical pusher 18 if desired. The supply of skelp may be maintained on the racks 26 and 27 or the skelp may be brought longitudinally into the troughs 20 and 21 by means of conveyers 28 and 29, and a full supply of skelp can thus be kept up upon the hearth so that all delay on account of-the difficulty of charging the skelp into the furnace is overcome, the production of the furnace being only limited by its heating capacity and the speed of the welding rolls to receive the same. As all charging operations through the central ports directly onto the furnace hearth are done away with, the interference of the workmen in the pit is also done away with as the only workmen required there are the turner-down and the welder, and they have full space for all the necessary operations. A larger number of skelp can also be maintained-on the furnace hearth because of the method of charging and in this way all the heat of the furnace can be utilized, and instead of the forcing of the furnace now found necessary to obtain output, it can be operated at a more mellow heat and the bodies of the skelp can be more thoroughly heated throughout and more gradually brought to the welding heat and by the employment of a less oxidizing flame.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 4' is practically the same, though in this case the regenerative ports 41, 42 extend up through the shelves 44, 45 of the furnace a short distance from the side walls, and the ports 13, 14v are located between said regenerative fiues and the side walls and the pipe are fed in longitudinally between the regenerator fiues and the side walls, and are pushed across the shelves over the flues and onto the hearth. The operation is the same for all practical purposes as that above described.

What I claim is: I

1. A tube weldin furnace having a hearth, a shelf exten ing longitudinally at the side of and at a higher level than said hearth, a feeding port in the front wall in line with the shelf whereby the skelp may be fed along said shelf parallel with said hearth and with the direction of feed through the furnace, ports in the side wall adjacent said shelf, and means operating through said ports to feed the skelp laterally from said shelf to said hearth and means whereby the skelp may be fed longitudinally along said hearth and discharged at the opposite end of the furnace.

2. In a tube welding furnace, the COIIlblnation with a depressed hearth, a discharge port in line therewith, a horizontal shelf at the side of the hearth extending parallel with and at a higher level than said hearth, an inclined run-way extending from said shelf to the hearth, a charging port in the end wall of the furnace in line with the shelf whereby the skelp may be fed longitudlnally thereof to a position parallel with one side of the hearth and may rest there, a charging trough in'line with the chargingport, ports in the side wall adjacent said shelf, and pushers operating through the ports in the side wall to shift the skelp from said shelf and down said run-Way to welding position on said hearth and means whereby the skelp may be fed longitudinally along said hearth and discharged at the opposite end of the furnace.

3. In a tube welding furnace, the combi- I nation with a hearth, a discharge port in the end wall in line with the hearth, a horizontal skelp receiving shelf extending along one side of the hearth, and at'a higher level than the same, an inclined run-way leading from said shelf to said hearth, a charging port in the end wall in line with the shelf, a charging trough in line with the charging port and a mechanical charger operating along said trough for feeding the skelp through said port longitudinally of said shelf, said hearth having one or more welding grooves, ports in the side wall adjacent said shelf and pusher arms entering through said side wall In testimony whereof, I the said PETER plfrtskallid foperating afiIOFSdthB: shelf1 to ifleed PATTERSON have hereunto set my hand. t e s e p rom said s e1 own sai inc ine to the welding grooves of said hearth and PETER F S means whereby the skelp may be fed lon- .Witnesses:

gitudinally along said hearth and dis- ROBERT C. TOTTEN,

charged at the opposite end of the furnace. JOHN F. WILL. 

